Members of the media stake out the house of New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez in North Attleborough, Mass. / Winslow Townson, USA TODAY Sports

by Kevin Manahan, USA TODAY Sports

by Kevin Manahan, USA TODAY Sports

NORTH ATTLEBOROUGH, Mass. -- Remember the photos of media members camped in an empty lot across the street from Aaron Hernandez's house, tweeting breathlessly about swarming police while waiting for the former New England Patriots tight end to be arrested?

Well, that lot had just been sold a couple of days before Hernandez's home was searched and he eventually was charged with the murder of his buddy, 27-year-old semipro football player Odin Lloyd.

North Attleborough developer and real estate agent Rick O'Brien, who owned the lot, said he was worried the buyer would back out -- but he didn't.

"I told the guy when I sold him the lot, 'It's the safest neighborhood around,'" O'Brien told USA TODAY Sports with a chuckle. "And when there was talk of a murder and the media circus arrived, he called me and said, 'I thought you said it was safe?' And I told him, "Well, it usually is.'"

Hernandez, who has pleaded not guilty to murder and is being held without bail, was expected back in an Attleboro court Wednesday afternoon for a probable cause hearing that is likely to be continued while prosecutors wait for a Fall River, Mass., grand jury to deliver a murder indictment.

The Boston Globe reports that another grand jury, convened in Boston, is hearing evidence that could link Hernandez to a drive-by double homicide in the city last summer.

At 2 p.m. Wednesday -- the same time Hernandez is expected in court -- Patriots head coach Bill Belichick will hold his first press conference since the June 26 arrest that startled the NFL and Hernandez's neighbors.

O'Brien said he currently is building five more houses in the neighborhood, each not far from Hernandez's home, and while the new owners have asked about the murder case, none has backed out.

"Everyone wants to know what the story is when it affects them," O'Brien said. "But they realize this is unusual."

O'Brien who has built the upper-scale development, called "Westwood Estates," constructed the 7,100-square-foot house at 22 Ronald C. Meyer Drive for the original owner, former Patriots defensive tackle Ty Warren, who then sold it to Hernandez for $1.3 million in November, according to real estate records. O'Brien said he believes Hernandez paid cash.

Mark Fisher, North Attleborough's town administrator, said the neighborhood has been an asset to the town by providing needed ratables and residents who want to get involved in improving the town through political and charitable endeavors.

An average home in North Attleborough sells for about $350,000, while homes in Hernandez's development average roughly $800,000, Fisher said.

The development of well-maintained yards sprinkled with lacrosse nets and basketball hoops is home to dozens of kids. During the media stakeout, those children sold water and offered free candy while skateboarding and biking in the streets and lining up for the ice cream truck each night.

That family-oriented environment has helped. A home across the street from Hernandez's, on the market when the murder occurred, has just been rented, O'Brien said.